Daniel Carrasquillo
Chapter 5: June 12, 2006: D
June 9th was my last day of my junior year of high school. My dad had written a note for me,
"Dear fatass:
In case you don’t realize this puberty is not going to fix your being a fatass. You need to do that yourself and you eat too much as is, your biking and rollerblading are obviously not helping you enough. I go to the gym all the time and they allowed me to get a discounted gym membership for you. I don’t want it to interfere with your school so I made it for three months starting June 12. It was $245 over three months instead of $372. Don’t waste my time like you are a waste of money, space, and air, I expect you to work out a minimum of 123 hours over the next 3 months since I know you are stupid when I speak I want you to average 1.5 hours a day. You will figure it out. Of course, you will largely be on your own again this summer. Summer is my busy months and your mom will be in Africa and India in July and August, so I won’t see you until probably September sometime. I’m tired of you being a fatass! IF you need healthy recipes call me and I’ll be able to help you figure out some food that will provide the calories and protein without being full of sugar and salt. If you like it enough where you are averaging 5 hours a day like me or more I am willing to buy you a gym membership for your senior year of high school. Your mother doesn’t like that she never knows where you are; it would help her out with this. If not for me, do it for your mother
-An Ashamed Father"
I do not like that at all but at least I have something to do when I’m not out being Gamma. But the things I’ve seen over the last year I understand I can’t do that for a career. I’m beginning to hear Gamma as another personality, I don’t believe in angels or devils on your shoulder but he would definitely qualify for the devil role. Smart, determined and advanced knowledge on litigation to make it where all parts of a goal are completed and no one even knows why or what just happened. Gamma is extremely dangerous if left unchecked.
I am going to the gym for the first time, my wallet, my gym membership and about $7 for food after the gym. I get there and I start working out how they teach us to in gym class but I’m casual about it looking at the pretty girls.
One catches my eye a brunette she is around my age tone and pretty and is being trained by someone that looks to be around my dad’s age maybe a little younger. He left her in a plank as he left to go get her water. I started doing pushups near her and started talking to her about the summer and our plans, slowly getting closer and slowly going from hinting at us together to just saying it outright, "...and after that day we will go to Portillos then to the beach and I’ll go for a kiss beneath the moonlight." I make my push up go forward I’m about to seal the deal give her a kiss on the cheek.
I feel my feet leave the ground and an angry man speaking to me as he pulls me away, "you do not distract her!"
The second the ground is under my feet I lunge to the man, past him and I reach up and triangle chokes him I let Gamma take over and I use momentum to leap into his knees from behind. He collapses backward but kept up by me choking him. I say calmly to him, "You need to learn to respect, I’m the man to teach you."
A gym employee says, "guys fight in the ring only! "
I release my arms and he gets up and shakes my hand, "what are you doing after high school? Who taught you how to fight?"
"I have never thought about after high school. I run my own criminal enterprise I had to learn to fight. "
"Hahaha, that’s hilarious! Buying selling and smoking weed from the $250 paycheck from McDonald’s does not make you a kingpin son. Have you ever thought of going into the military?"
"Well, now I have."
"How old are you?"
"16 I turn 17 on July 11."
"I can totally deal with that. If you’re here often I will see you often. I do a PT session here at 8 am."
"It’s that where she is from? "
"She’s my daughter. She is going to Georgia for basic training the week of your birthday."
"She’s older than me? isn’t she."
"By almost 2 years. And even if she was your age she would still be out of your league. I taught her to be nice to stupid boys."
"Ummm. I’m going away now this was awkward. I will see you tomorrow." I scurry away.
And over the next few weeks, I spend countless hours at the gym getting stronger. I prepare my organization for my absence for a few weeks. I leave July 17 without the knowledge or consent of my parents, I forged their signatures. I failed basic training for having horrible aim. And I was back the day before school started.